Pilgrimage And Tourism To Holy Cities

Pilgrimage places anthropological works on a privileged platform for religious studies. The origin of built environment sets apart a platform for worship. It contains the dichotomy of life and death, striving towards the spirit of a dead that may or may not be religious. It is a soul searching process, a coming to terms with hopes and disillusions. Human situations in the flow of globalised urban areas draw together primal human search and economic considerations. The sacred and the profane, the belief in miracles and the management of both, necessitate fresh search of urban pilgrimage.

The historic phenomenon of pilgrimage is experiencing a resurgence around the world. A journey resulting from religious causes, it not only provides a spiritual experience, but also one of new environments, cultures and peoples, and is often undertaken as a guided tour. Yet pilgrimage as a mode of tourism has been little investigated. This book adds considerably to our knowledge by focusing on one specific pilgrimage voyage - that to the Holy Land during times of security crisis there. In doing so, it examines this tourism journey in relation to constraints and high levels of risk experienced by the pilgrims. It explores both the behavioural aspects of undertaking pilgrimage to such an insecure situation and the impacts of such crisis on the host tourism infrastructure and industry. It therefore not only provides insights into pilgrimage as tourism - and into this particular country's experience - but also offers an integrative approach to tourism crisis management.

This book focuses on the relationship between pilgrimage, religion, and tourism in the context of southeastern Europe. The book brings together scholars from a broad range of disciplines, discussing different approaches and understandings of pilgrimage and tourism. It offers a fascinating collection of case studies from across the region. (Series: Studies on South East Europe - Vol. 14) [Subject: European Studies, Religious Studies, Tourism, History]

Jerusalem is a city with a singular nature. Home to three religions, it contains spiritual meaning for people the world over; it is at once a tourist destination and a location with a complex political reality. Tourism, therefore, is an integral part of Jerusalem’s development and its political conflicts. The book traces tourism and pilgrimage to Jerusalem from the late Ottoman era, through the British Mandate, during the period of the divided city, and to the reunification of the city under Israeli rule. Throughout, the city’s evolution is shown to be intertwined with its tourist industry, as tourist sites, accommodations, infrastructure, and services transform the city’s structures and open spaces. At the same time, tourism is wielded by various parties in an effort to gain political recognition, to bolster territorial control, or to garner support. The city’s future and the role tourism can play in it are examined. While the construction of a “security fence” will have many implications on Jerusalem’s tourist industry, steps are proposed to minimize the effects of the security fence and optimize tourism. Written by leading academics, this title will be valuable reading for students, academics, and researchers in the fields of tourism, religious studies, geography, history, cultural studies, and anthropology.

This volume provides a theoretically and empirically-grounded study of the significance of landscape in the experience of Christian pilgrimage across different denominations and its intersection with cultural heritage and tourism. The book focuses on pilgrimages to Meteora (Greece), Subiaco (Italy) and the Isle of Man. These are each sites of scenic beauty that boast a rich heritage associated respectively to Greek Orthodox, Roman Catholic and Ecumenical/ Protestant denominations. The study discusses different Christian theologies, practices and perspectives on the nature and the purpose of pilgrimage in these traditions. It draws on participant experiential accounts, archival research, and interviews with clergy, laity and local stakeholders. Special attention is paid to the themes of sacred space and practice, aesthetics, mobilities, embodiment and performance, emotional geographies, theology, cultural heritage, consumption and commodification, and the pilgrim-tourist continuum.

The appeal of sacred sites remains undiminished at the start of the twenty-first century, as unprecedented numbers of visitors travel to Lourdes, Rome, Jerusalem, Santiago de Compostela, and even Star Trek conventions. Ethnographic analysis of the conflicts over resources and meanings associated with such sites, as well as the sense of community they inspire, provides compelling evidence re-emphasizing the links between pilgrimage and tourism. As the papers in this collection demonstrate, studies of these forms of journeying are at the forefront of postmodern debates about movement and centers, global flows, social identities, and the negotiation of meanings.

Religious studies and research has gained a lot of interest and considerable attention from researchers, policy makers, and practitioners during the last few years. Though interest has increased, religious tourism is vastly underrepresented in modern research and not much is known on the subject’s presence in most countries. Global Perspectives on Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage provides emerging research on religious tourism, the cultural impact of religion, and religiosity’s impact on new market products. Highlighting the prevalence of religiosity, readers will learn tourism’s impact on the world economy and the growing research in religious tourism, this book is an important resource for academic societies, entrepreneurs, policy makers, researchers, and educators.